@Ryan YuWhen you refinance a property, you’re essentially taking a loan against the equity in that property.

To that end, in most cases even if the properties are owned within an entity, the principles (investors) will need to personally guarantee the debt.

Essentially there are investors out there that can build a large enough portfolio with little debt that can cash flow enough for a great life.If you want to scale to many properties then you will want to consider leveraging your existing properties.

For that year 12k essentially increasing your taxesThen the rental 3 (Negative 15k) is carried over since over 150 AGISo it actually looks like the rentals had a 12k profit overall that year when it was more -3kAppreciate any guidance@John Davey to avoid any confusion for other investors that might be reading this post and @Austin Cheatham response. 

Now onto the real estate...If you truly want to protect yourself against STR regulations only purchase property with the intent of  operating as an STR where these three principles apply: (1) the use is allowed, (2) the use requirements are protected by in place permitting and licensing and (3) the permissions are transferable through a sale.

Essentially you create a parent LLC with each property in it's own secondary or child LLC.

Since we did $0 we are assuming risk of the loan amount, but can afford to take a small cash flow margin while someone else pays our principle down.We are working toward A similar plan as you as I plan to retire from the Navy at 42-45 years old in 7-10 years.

For rehab work, especially if you're tackling kitchens, baths, and landscaping, a few essential power tools come in handy.

However, professional remediation is essential for quality results, complete documentation, and assurance that the job meets industry standards.

This type of reporting is an essential part of what BiggerPockets can be used for.